FF7: The Picture
by shannyfish
Summary: Felicity can't let go of the fact that she and Oliver shouldn't be 'unthinkable', but possible... For SmoaknArrow's Olicity Flash Fiction Prompt #7: Illusions


_"When two people dream the same dream, it ceases to be an illusion." - Phillip K. Dick_

. . .

Felicity stared down at the picture in the frame in her hands. She knew it was silly, but she'd slipped it in her purse just the same and had taken it with her. She had meant to leave it at home, but had forgotten all about it until she'd reached the Foundry and found it when she was rummaging through her purse. She'd thought about leaving it out next to her computer there, but she was fairly sure that it might confuse people...or raise questions, especially where Oliver was involved.

"Who's in the picture?"

She nearly dropped the frame, but got a firm hold on it as she angled it so that the glass was pressed against the fabric of her blouse. Felicity looked up at Diggle. "Uh...what picture?"

Diggle smiled at her and she knew that he wasn't going to let her get away with that. Diggle didn't let her get away with anything. "The one that you're hoping I won't press you about."

"Why don't we go with that feeling?"

"Because I know you, Felicity," Diggle said. "You had that face-"

"What face?" she asked quickly. She had a face? Was it like the face that Oliver got when he was all upset? That kind of face? Something different? Could everyone tell or was it just Diggle?

Diggle seemed amused now. "That face that tells me that not everything is okay with you," he said. "I know you Felicity… Why don't you just talk to me?"

She stared at Diggle and considered his offer for a moment. "Sometimes I think it's good that we have space…secrets…privacy between us," Felicity said quietly. "The three of us are together all of the time… Sometimes it's nice for you and Oliver not to know absolutely /everything/ that is going on in my life."

"I think Oliver might say that that could be dangerous."

"True," Felicity conceded and had considered that as well. "But do you really think that whatever I'm telling you is going to lead to something dangerous?"

Diggle shrugged a bit. "You're like a mystery wrapped inside of an enigma…at least as far as your background goes."

"You didn't background check me? Just Oliver?" Felicity asked, half surprised.

He seemed amused again. "Just Oliver."

"Do you feel like you should know more about me pre-Queen Consolidated?" Felicity asked him curiously. Diggle and Oliver were her family and she felt extremely close to them, but at the same time…they /should/ have lives outside of the Foundry.

"I think that if there's something that I /really/ should know that you'll tell me," Diggle told her. "And when you're ready…you'll show me that picture…" He stuck his hands into the pockets of his jacket, Diggle looked down for a moment and then back to Felicity. "I'm going to head out, but if you need to talk...you can call me."

"I know," she whispered with a smile. Felicity added a few moments later, slowly. "Thank you, John." She was glad that they were so close and thankful to know that she knew she could talk to Diggle at any time about anything she might need to discuss. He was a sweetheart even though he was all large and muscle-y. Sometimes that was deceiving.

"Goodnight, Felicity," he said before turning and heading out.

"Night," she called after him. Oliver was still out and even though she knew that she could technically be okay leaving before he got back to the Foundry, she really hated the idea of doing that. In her mind, there was far too many bad things that could happen before he was safe back at the Foundry. She didn't want to risk it and there was no way she could rest easy going home and not knowing anyways.

After Diggle was gone, she allowed herself to pull the frame away from her body. Felicity stared down at it and sighed. It seemed stupid, but she couldn't help herself to think about what was depicted in the picture.

It was an illusion.

A façade.

It had been an act.

They'd been undercover.

Two weeks ago, she and Oliver had been undercover for seven days as a married couple. They had been very convincing and even had the picture proof of it. The picture that she had in the frame was one that had been taken one night they'd been out on a double date when they'd been undercover, they'd taken pictures of all the couples at the restaurant and Felicity had kept theirs. It was so odd thinking back on that week with Oliver. Their being together had been easy...natural...and Felicity found herself even missing the ring she had worn on her finger.

It wasn't the actual ring itself. It was more the weight and it being there. The ring itself had been far too big and flashy for her tastes. It would have been something that Felicity knew that Laurel would have worn if Oliver had never gotten on the Queen's Gambit and they'd gotten married instead. It just wasn't Felicity's style, but that hadn't mattered on the mission. It had just been a part of all of that. It had been part of that facade that they'd put on. The truth was that Felicity had noticed that all through the day she'd run two fingers along either side of her ring finger, feeling for the ring that wasn't there. Felicity had actually thought about just wearing any ring on that finger for a while. It could be simple. She was okay with simple… Felicity also doubted that anyone would notice, well...Diggle would noticed, but Oliver likely would not.

The ring wasn't the only thing that she missed. She missed sleeping in the same bed as him. It had been awkward at first because Oliver had pressed the fact that they needed to make it seem as realistic as possible, so each night she'd go to bed in far less than she went to bed at home in. Felicity missed the feel of his body up against hers, his arms around her, and the warmth and strength that radiated from his body. He always made her feel safe. He had never been there when she woke, he'd be doing sit ups or some other exercise he could do in the next room quietly. He'd always be there when she fell asleep though and Felicity always knew that he wasn't far…

Adjusting to her own bed had been hard. It wasn't that her bed wasn't comfortable because it was, she'd even made sure that when she got home that she'd have fresh sheets to crawl into. It was the fact that she was missing something...someone...Oliver… It was hard to sleep now. She woke up looking for him and sometimes she'd wake up in the middle of the night calling for him...and then she'd peek through her blinds and wonder if he ever watched over her from the nearby rooftop. After all, she knew that he didn't sleep much at all.

Her fingers ran over his face in the picture for a moment before she started to stuff it back into her purse. She sighed. Felicity didn't know how she could just go back to how things were. It wasn't odd for her to have a crush on Oliver, it was actually something that was very common… It was just harder this time because it was like she'd gotten a taste of what it was like to date him...to be with him...in that very close way. She knew that she had to figure out a way to get past it though. She had to be professional… One thing was for sure, she didn't want things to change between them...at least not in the way that they wouldn't be friends anymore. She loved him dearly and she never wanted to not be his friend.

. . .

"You're still here?"

Felicity spun around in her chair and smiled at him. "Of course," she told him.

"You know you could have gone home," he said and looked around for a moment. "Diggle left."

"Diggle doesn't worry like I do," Felicity rambled. "I mean, I really need crunchy snack food when I worry…" She'd already blurted out before that she had a nervous eating habit, so she was sure that this didn't come as a surprise to him. "Anyways…" she said as she moved her gaze downward. Felicity found it hard to look at him and keep a smile in place. She felt like she'd give away her feelings and she really was striving to keep things normal between them. "I should probably just go now," Felicity told him as she reached down and grabbed her purse before taking two steps towards the exit.

"Your jacket."

"Right," she said, her gaze downward as she turned and headed back to her chair. His boots came into her view and she followed them upwards past all of the leather to find Oliver standing there holding her jacket up for her, no mask and hood down. Felicity was pleasantly surprised and her mouth dropped slightly open. For a slight moment she couldn't help, but stare. He'd done this when they'd been undercover, holding her jacket and helping her into it. It was such a simple and yet sweet thing to do. "Thanks," she told him as she turned and he helped her into it. Gently, her ponytail was pulled from under the jacket and set down on the collar.

"Are you okay?"

"Sure," she said a little too quickly and looked down again.

"Felicity-"

She was an awful liar.

She hated to keep secrets.

How could she keep this one?

How could she keep from ruining their relationship?

Felicity slowly turned to face him, a slight sigh escaping her lips. "Okay," she said and looked up at him. Their eyes met and her smile dropped. "I'm not 'fine'. I'm okay though…and it's really nothing for you to worry about."

"I care about you, Felicity, so I'm going to worry if something's not right," Oliver told her. He seemed quite concerned, it was etched into his dazzling features and he took a step closer to her. "You can talk to me about /anything/."

Her voice caught in her throat. She had a hard time swallowing, but then managed to push the words out. "No I can't." Felicity paused and saw the hurt expression that soon appeared. She hadn't meant to hurt him. She never wanted that. "But I appreciate the standing offer."

"Please…" he whispered. His voice was gentle and he'd spoken in a way that she didn't recognize. His voice was enough to keep her eyes on his as her mind raced for a reply.

"I don't want to ruin our friendship," Felicity told him.

"How could you possibly do that?" Oliver asked and he seemed confused now. At least with her, Oliver seemed for the most part to show his emotions. That helped her. "You can ask Diggle, /I/ would be the first person to ruin friendships between the three of us."

She couldn't help but smile just a little bit. That was true. She knew that Diggle would agree with him about that. "This isn't about you, me, /and/ Diggle." Felicity had said the words slowly and as she stared at him, she could see that he still seemed a bit confused.

"I'm getting lost."

"This is about you and me," she blurted out. Her eyes never left his and she saw the moment of understanding. She was quiet as she let it sink in. "It's been all I think of...you know, besides...doing my job and stuff," she rambled on. "That week...I know we were just pretending, we had a mission to complete, but-" He was quiet, she realized and maybe he was still trying to really take in what she'd said and everything that had come after it. "But I can't stop thinking about it. About you. About us. About how much I wish the 'unthinkable' could be possible…"

"Felicity…" he finally whispered and seemed not to know what else to say after that.

"We both deserve it," she told him after a moment. Felicity knew that Oliver didn't really seem like he felt like he deserved love or to be happy, but she knew him and she knew that he deserved both. "I know I'm not Laurel or Sara, but-"

He moved so quickly, she really didn't process it until she tried to finish her sentence only to find his finger silencing her as it pressed against her lips. She stared at him and he was just standing there in silence.

Had she gone too far?

Had he heard too much?

"Felicity...I still firmly believe that I can't...that I shouldn't be with someone that I can really care about," Oliver said slowly and gently. "Because of who I am...being the Arrow… I'm too dangerous for people to be close to me. I couldn't live with anyone else being killed because of me. It's already hard enough now because I know that I put you and Diggle at risk…" He paused for a moment and removed his finger from her lips before stroking her cheek as he stared at her. "And /you/ deserve so much better, Felicity…"

She opened her mouth to argue with him, but something changed in him. He seemed to soften and he almost looked defeated. Almost. Felicity found his lips delightfully on hers a moment later. There had been a few kisses during that week, but it had always been quick and for show...and absolutely nothing like she was experiencing now. She happily returned the kiss and laced her fingers through his hair.

This moment…

It had been only something that she'd dreamed of.

Oliver's lips released hers, but his forehead rested against hers. They were both silent for a long moment. Felicity sucked in a deep breath as she just waited there, her forehead pressed against his and her eyes closed.

"Can I make you breakfast?" Oliver asked finally after several minutes had passed.

Felicity smiled. "Is that your way of inviting yourself over?" It was still a bit too early for her to normally decide to eat breakfast over sleeping first, but she'd happily eat any meal that Oliver Queen prepared for her. "Not that I don't want you to come over," Felicity rambled after a moment. "I do, it's just-"

And he was kissing her again.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to kiss you," he whispered against her lips. "Really kiss you…"

Felicity let her hands run down over his shoulders and down his arms before finally grasping his hands. "You have no idea how long I've thought about you kissing me…"

He smirked in response.

"Come home," she whispered as she took a step back, opened her eyes, and looked into his face. "I've missed you…"

He released one of her hands and it roamed along her arm at first, but then moved to her side. The unexpected touch of his skin against hers as his hand moved under the side of her shirt and them slid to cover her back. "I've missed you…" Oliver leaned in and kissed her again. "Let's go home."

Maybe it wasn't all an illusion.

. . .

The End.


End file.
